See These 10 Email Marketing Best Practices

See These 10 Email Marketing Best Practices

Email marketing can be quite a tricky business, and what is acceptable is subject to change over time, so it's a smart idea to revisit email marketing best practices routinely. What works best is affected by other aspects and technology changes, so if we want to get the very best results we need to keep current.

Ten best practices for email marketing

1. Craft an attention-getting subject line - This is task one, as if you don't make this something that compels an open, you're finished. Use short, bold and punchy text
2. Mobile optimized emails - If you're not mobilizing for mobile now, you're losing out, as some 67 percent of all emails are now opened via a mobile device.
3. Let them know who it's from - Having a bland perfunctory "From" address may lead to your emails never getting opened. Make it identifiable.
4. Utilize several calls to action - If you really want the click, sell it, and make sure you have one of these above the fold.
5. Make the body text brief and to the point - No one is looking forward to reading a thousand word email, so don't be that guy! Say what you need to say, using bullet points if you have several points, and ask them to click elsewhere for more.
6. Include videos and pictures - Visual content is extremely popular these days, and there is a lot of evidence that it converts much better than mere text.
7. Emphasize benefits to reader - Don't spend time talking about you: all they really want to know is what's in it for them, so be sure not to disappoint.
8. Don't send too little or too much - This is one you need to test, as all audiences are a bit different, but rest assured that once a month is too little, and a dozen times a week is excessive.
9. Encourage and enable social sharing - Using social sharing effectively doubles your click through rate. Any more questions?
10. Create compelling content - Delivering valuable, timely content your readers can use will do you more good than almost any other of these best practices. Become somebody they would like to hear from, and you're halfway home.